Exercise For Shift Workers

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Hello everyone and welcome to today's
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night alley lesson exercise around the
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clock. My name is Logan Pendergrst. I
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have a PhD in medical science and I'm
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here today to lead us through the
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lesson.
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We'll start today's lesson by talking
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about why exercise matters in particular
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for those of us who are working night
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shifts. We'll then move into talking
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about how to exercise realistically
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given the constraints of working night
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shift work. And from there, we'll talk
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about some of the practical strategies
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that we can implement depending on which
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type of shift that we're working. And
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then finally, we'll move into some quick
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actions that we could take potentially
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even this week to begin an exercise
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regimen.
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So, first we may ask why start
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exercising? Well, exercise helps us to
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prevent and reduce our risk of chronic
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disease and even improve chronic
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diseases that we do have. Now, chronic
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diseases could include heart disease or
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diabetes. And an example in the
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scientific research of exercise helping
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um a chronic condition is this that we
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see here on the second bullet down where
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individuals with type 2 diabetes who
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engage in consistent exercise see a 7 to
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1% reduction in a marker called HBA1C,
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which is the marker that they use to
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diagnose diabetes. And this reduction in
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HBA1C is similar to the effects that we
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see with pharmaceutical interventions.
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And what this really shows is that
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exercise can serve to help you as much
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as medicine does. Additionally, exercise
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helps us to have more energy and less
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pain during our shifts. Much of this is
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because we get benefits to our heart and
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to our cardiovascular system. It allows
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us to complete tasks more effectively.
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Exercise helps us also with our sleep
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quality, which we'll talk about in the
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next few slides. And it helps us to
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improve our mood and our mental health,
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mainly through reducing our feelings of
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stress and anxiety. And we see this also
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play out in the scientific research
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where we see that regular exercise helps
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to reduce symptoms of anxiety by 20 to
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30% in shift workers.
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So continuing with this and thinking of
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shift workers in particular, we see in
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the science that exercise helps to
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improve sleep quality and sleep
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efficiency in shift workers and this
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improvement is about 15%. Which is
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pretty marketked. Additionally, we see
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that exercise does help to reduce
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injuries and physical strain during
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shifts as well as to reduce the reliance
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on stimulants such as caffeine to help
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us maintain our alertness. And we can
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see in the research that regular
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exercise helps to reduce workplace
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muscularkeeletal injury by 20 or by 30
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to 40%. And what this shows is that
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exercise is not just helping us reduce
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our risk of disease and feel better,
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it's also reducing our risk of getting
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hurt at work. And then lastly, exercise
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helps our body's clock to coordinate our
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activities. So for instance, if we're
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engaging in exercise consistently, then
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our body begins to know when to prepare
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for movement and as a result, our
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general function is better for our
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muscularkeeletal system and our
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cardiovascular system.
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So what are some barriers that could
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hinder us from engaging in exercise as
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night shift workers? Well, first night
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shifts occur during a time when the
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human physiology is not typically
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accustomed to moving. And because of
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this, we see disruptions in sleep
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length. So, working a night shift in the
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scientific data reduces the amount of
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sleep that an individual gets by 1 to 4
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hours. And this lack of sleep increases
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the amount of effort that we feel like
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we're using to complete tasks, simple
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tasks such as you operating a machine at
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work, but also exercise. Additionally,
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consuming irregular meals because we're
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working odd hours could affect how
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nourished we feel and how prepared and
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energetic we feel to engage in exercise.
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We have limited access to gym facilities
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because of hours and business hours. we
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have um limited uh time to spend with
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our family, so we choose to prioritize
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that over choosing to go to the gym. And
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then lastly, just generally feeling
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intimidated or unsure of what to do in
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the gym could be a barrier for shift
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workers to engage in exercise.
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So, how can we address this? Well, we
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can learn more about exercise. And there
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are various styles of exercise. One of
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these styles is called calisthenics.
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This type of exercise is generally just
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a fancy way of saying body weight
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training. So there are exercises like
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body weightight squats, wall push-ups,
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which we see this individual doing here
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in this image, and planks. And these can
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be done anywhere that there's a clean
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and stable surface that we can put our
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weight against. Walking is also
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considered to be a form of exercise. In
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fact, brisk hall walks or walking on
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outdoor tracks could burn up to 150 or
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200 calories in a 30 minute session. And
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over time, this could help us maintain
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our weight or even lose weight.
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Additionally, weightlifting which is uh
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involves lifting heavy objects like
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dumbbells or barbells using full body
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compound movements like for instance the
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bench press which presses the weight off
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of our chest or deadlifts which lifts
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the weight off of the ground. Two to
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three times per week could help us to
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build our muscular skeletal system and
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our cardiovascular system to help us
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feel and work better. There's also
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cardiovascular training or cardio as
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they call it, which is cycling or
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jogging or rowing. And these types of
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exercise are done well when they're in
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short bursts because these short bursts
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of energy that we're using could help us
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feel less tired after working long
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shifts or unconventional hours. And then
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lastly, simple things like climbing or
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playing with children, though they don't
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necessarily feel like exercise, can be
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quite engaging to our muscles and to our
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body and allow us to enjoy training
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without really feeling like we're doing
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too much.
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Continuing here, um, in thinking of the
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types of goals that we may have, there
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are different exercises to approach
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different types of adaptation that we
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would like our bodies to experience. For
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instance, if we'd like to build
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strength, we can do squats or wall
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push-ups or lunges or glute bridges,
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each of which could be um if you'd like
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to see Google images or any sort of a
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YouTube video, you can search these
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online. These types of exercises can
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help us build the strength in our
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muscles. Additionally, if we'd like to
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just get better at walking around and
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moving and simply going through our
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daily lives, we could uh engage in brisk
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hall walks or walking on outside routes
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just to get our legs and our
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cardiovascular system accustomed to
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that. If we'd like to become more
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flexible, we can engage in stretching
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like neck rolls or hamstring stretches
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or shoulder mobility stretches that not
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just increase our flexibility, but also
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by holding our arms or our legs, our
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body in these positions can help us to
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build muscle strength in that position.
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And then additionally, if we'd like to
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improve our cardiovascular strength or
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our cardiovascular endurance, we could
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engage in maybe faster walking or stair
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climbing or marching in place because
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this is a bit more challenging and can
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prepare our um our hearts and our
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vascular systems to deliver energy to
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our muscles to perform in these
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circumstances.
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And if we're curious about how much time
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potentially we should be spending per
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week exercising, the general
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recommendation is to get about 150
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minutes of exercise per week. And this
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can be done in 5 to 15 minute intervals.
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For instance, if we'd like to exercise
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in 15-inute intervals, that's 10 15inute
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intervals in a week.
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Um, the next question we may have may
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be, what time should I work out? Should
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I work out before or after a shift?
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Well, each time is effective and the
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most um proper time to exercise is the
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time we feel like exercising. So, if
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we'd like to exercise before our shift,
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this could wake us up and could boost
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our alertness and carry that through the
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shift so that we're feeling better. If
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we'd like to exercise during our shift
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so that we're not having to work out
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before or after, we could do these micro
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movement snacks where we're exercising
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for 5 to 10 minutes on a lunch break or
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um another break period of time
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throughout the shift. so that we can get
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that amount of time in. We could also
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exercise after work, which could help us
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not just unwind and forget the stress
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that we've had for the day, but also to
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help prepare our body for sleep. In most
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cases, especially for night shift
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workers, the aftershift routine should
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likely keep exercise on the lighter
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side. And this could involve walking or
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light weightlifting training or
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something like a light bicycle ride. And
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the reason for this is because keeping
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our body in a routine where we're
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leaving work or finishing work and not
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engaging in too stimulating of behaviors
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can really help us prepare for the
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nighttime regimen. And the nighttime
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regimen, uh, as we've mentioned in
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previous lessons, could include having a
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reduction in our exposure to artificial
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light, putting our phone in night mode
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so that we're seeing less bright um,
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emissions from our phone, maybe even
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engaging in some sort of a cool down
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breathing exercise at the end of our
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shift or prior to going to sleep. These
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type of behaviors can help us cool down
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and really put our body in night mode so
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that we can rest effectively. And as an
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aside here, we should also be
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considering the safety elements of
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exercise. We should be warming up for 1
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to two minutes prior to the exercise
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bout. This could be a brisk walk or some
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air squats. We should avoid heavy
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lifting or highintensity work if we're
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feeling particularly tired so that we
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can avoid accidents. And then also we
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should be stopping our exercise if we're
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feeling dizzy or short of breath or in
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an um an extreme amount of pain in order
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to prevent injuries so that we can
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continue to exercise consistently.
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Okay. So what about different shift
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types? So if we're working a consistent
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night shift or a consistent shift either
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depending if that's day shift or evening
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shift, it would be most effective to
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exercise at the same time consistently.
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So either if this is before or during or
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after our work shift, keeping that time
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consistent so the body can be prepared
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to prime the cardiovascular and the
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muscular system for that training. If
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we're working rotating shifts, it's
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important to anchor our exercise bouts
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within a few hours of us waking. So, if
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we're waking up at 7:00 a.m. one day and
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7:00 p.m. the next, just exercising
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about an hour or two after waking could
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help the body prepare for this
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inconsistency
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um in waking and in training. If we're
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working 12-hour shifts, which can be
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particularly exhausting, then maybe
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performing these micro exercise bouts,
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something like 5 to 10 minutes during
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the shift periodically could help us get
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training in without having to exercise
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after the shift when we're feeling a bit
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more tired because of the 12-hour
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duration. And then lastly, considering
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off days where we have a little bit more
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time and trying to stack a longer
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training session on those days. For
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instance, if we get a 30 to 60 minute um
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cardiovascular training bout in on one
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of these off days, that could contribute
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to our 150 minute per week
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recommendation and really lessen the
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burden that we have on the other days of
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the week.
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And then lastly, talking a bit about
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these movement snacks or these micro
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sessions, 5 to 10 minute breaks in
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sedentary activity or sedentary
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behavior, which basically just means
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sitting for long periods of time, can
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help us to regulate our blood sugar
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levels. And we see this in the science
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where individuals who break long periods
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of sitting every 30 to 60 minutes can
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improve their blood sugar control by 20
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to 30%.
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And to finalize here, we should just
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remember that exercise is helping us
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with our energy. It's helping us feel
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better, sleep better, and prevent our
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injuries. But it's also important for
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helping regulate our mood and to avoid
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chronic disease in the long term. And
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even small doses of exercise can be
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helpful for this.
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And if we're interested in beginning
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exercise but are unsure or maybe feeling
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overwhelmed by the prospect, it would be
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helpful to just pick one 10-minute
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interval 2 days per week and just go on
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a brisk walk. And what this can do is
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help prime our heart and our muscles to
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maybe begin a more complex exercise
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regimen later in time, but can still
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have us feeling like we're doing
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something. And then lastly, just keep in
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mind with exercise, it's okay to start
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tiny. Consistency is what matters. It
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consistency in applying our exercise
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bouts is more important than doing
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highly intense exercise bouts for very
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long periods of time. And with that,
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that's all I have for today's lesson. I
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will see you next time. This is Logan
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with Night Out.